1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to locks for an electrical power meter box.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although in at least some jurisdictions to do so is a criminal act, unauthorized use of electrical power is a major problem for electric utilities. Detecting and prosecuting unauthorized use of electricity by commercial establishments is an expensive and difficult task. Certain businesses, such a supermarkets, have a generally constant load factor which can be monitored by computer to detect abrupt load increases or decreases. However, those who make unauthorized use from the beginning of electrical service cannot be detected by computer, since there is no prior history of electricity usage. Thus, unauthorized use may often only be detected by meter readers and other field personnel.
Commercial electrical power meter boxes, also commonly known in the industry as cans, have been manufactured the same basic way for many years. The boxes are comprised of a front half and a rear half, with the two halves being hinged together at the same surface, usually the top. To gain access to tap and use electricity without authorization, one need only open a meter box and close the master power switch. To protect against such unauthorized entry, tabs at an edge, commonly the bottom, of the box halves have in the past been held closed together with a wire seal. A broken seal indicated unauthorized entry into the meter box.
A meter reader making periodic power usage readings could then also inspect the seal to determine if it had been broken. If so, it is probable that unauthorized entry into the meter box was likely and that unauthorized use was being made of electrical power. However, the seal was located below the bottom face of the meter box approximately halfway between the front and back of the box.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,008,104 a bolt was inserted through the tabs in the lower face of a meter cover and secured with a nut. A seal was inserted through openings or apertures in the bolt and nut to prevent unauthorized access to the meter. The seal was, however, at the bottom of the meter cover, a location typically at or below waist level of a meter reader. Unless the meter reader was particularly thorough and took the extra time to check the seal, a broken seal could be undetected for some period of time.
Examples of other electric power meter locks are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,031,722; 4,080,811; 4,144,729; 4,254,647; and 4,414,829. All of these patents provided locks for meter cans having an openable front cover. However, none of these locks were adapted to be used on commercial meter enclosure boxes nor did these locks locate the seal in an easily visible position.
Examples of locking ring assemblies for glass meter covers are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,329,860 and 4,415,190. Examples of other types of locks are U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,067,549; 1,188,886; 1,665,820; 3,157,040; 3,172,282; and 4,406,358.
Although other types of locks were known in the art, none have proposed or suggested that they be used with electrical power meter boxes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,075,742 related to an alternative locking mechanism in the form of a solid rod with a tapered head which is locked by a slit sleeve in a receiving casing. However, the locking device of this patent was designed as a disposable one which was purposely designed to be cut to be removed. Accordingly, such a locking device would be unsuitable for use on electrical power meter boxes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 578,786 and 578,798 involved locks for a car seal which had to be rotated to be unlocked, but were not intended for use with electrical power meter boxes. U.S. Pat. No. 2,455,069 related to a lock with telescoping tubes provided with a mechanism for releasing latching engagement merely by pressing on a cylinder lock in one of the tubes. As such, this type of lock was not secure enough for use with electrical power meter boxes, since it was too easily unlocked.
Other examples of rod locks were U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,418, 952; 1,782,584; 3,596,554; 1,553,188; 1,346,677; 1,344,048; and 620,219.